Percy Jackson & The Bronze Dragon AnnabethStyle
by amillionsmiles
Summary: Annabeth's point of view during the "Percy Jackson and the Bronze Dragon" mini-story in the Demigod Files.  Read and review!


**Disclaimer: I don't own the Percy Jackson series, or the dialogue, in this case (I took it straight from the book 'cause I wanted to ensure as much accuracy as possible. However, I do own Annabeth's thoughts/feelings, and, to some extent, her actions. :)**

**

* * *

**

It was the end of June, and the afternoon at Camp Half-Blood was normal enough. Percy was back from a quest, and as much as I hated to admit it, I was glad to see him. At dinnertime, campers flocked around the dining pavilion, all of us restless for that night's game of Capture the Flag. The night before, Hephaestus's cabin had won out against Ares, resulting in tonight's guarantee that the game would be vicious. Clarisse was probably seeking to tear everyone on the opposing team's heads off. Luckily, the Athena cabin (my cabin) was on her side, so we would be keeping our heads on for the night. Alongside us were Aphrodite's cabin, the Dionysus cabin, and the Demeter cabin. We would be fighting against the blue team; Hephaestus, Apollo, Hermes, and Percy, who was the only kid that inhabited the Poseidon cabin.

Before we got started, I strolled over to Percy and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, Seaweed Brain."

"Would you stop calling me that?" he protested. I knew he hated the nickname, but that was only because there wasn't much he could do about mine. "Owl-head" and "Wise Girl" weren't even close, even though I took personal offense at the "Owl-head" one.

"You know you love it." I bumped him on the shoulder as a friendly gesture. He wasn't in armor yet, so I didn't know if I'd accidentally bruised him or something. I figured he could take it, since he'd been through other things that probably should have killed him. All of those times, I'd been with him, so I had to give myself credit. "Tell you what," I said, lowering my voice, "We're going to crush you tonight, but if you pick a safe position…like right flank, for instance…I'll make sure you don't get pulverized too much."

"Gee, thanks," he replied, "but I'm playing to win."

I smiled smugly. "See you on the battlefield." I turned around to join my siblings, high-fiving them and looking forward to a sure victory. I knew Percy would do the opposite of what I told him, which was why Silena and I would be following him and Beckendorf. They wouldn't know, because Percy would think that _I_ thought he had heeded my advice, even though I knew he wouldn't. A plan worthy of Athena.

A half-hour later, Silena and I stealthily watched Beckendorf and Percy's creeping figures at the left flank. I was slightly disappointed, because it was turning out to be easier than I'd thought it would be. It got a bit difficult at times, mostly because they were wearing some type of armor Beckendorf must've newly forged, and it camouflaged them against the surroundings.

Suddenly, Percy and Beckendorf stopped. Immediately, I saw our chance, and motioned to Silena.

"I'll go in first," I told her, slipping back on my magic Yankees cap. I bounded lightly behind Percy and pressed my celestial bronze knife against the nape of his neck. I felt him tense and couldn't resist saying, "Surprise." Percy tried to move, but I dug my knife closer. I didn't want to hurt him permanently, but the object of the game was to win, anyways, and that meant capturing Percy and Beckendorf. Silena came up next to me.

"Nice work," she said. I took Percy's sword and revealed myself.

"Boys are easy to follow. They make more noise than a lovesick Minotaur." The truth was, they'd actually been pretty quiet, but we'd been following close enough behind to catch some noise. Percy flushed and I flashed back to the snippets of conversation we'd heard, trying to remember if he'd said anything I could use against him.

"You're our prisoner," I announced. "Let's get Beckendorf and –"

"Beckendorf!" Percy interjected. "Come on!" I yanked him back, wondering if he was trying to cause a distraction.

"Where do you think you're going, prisoner?" I questioned.

"Look!" Percy gestured desperately. I looked closer and finally noticed our surroundings. We were right by the giant Ant Hill, and Myrmekes were everywhere, huge, red, and glistening, some with large chunks of metal grasped between their mandibles.

"Oh, Zeus…" I mentally kicked myself for not noticing before. Silena, Percy, and I watched as Beckendorf leaped into the clearing and attacked the ants. He didn't last long. One ant bit his leg and his legs seemed to give out. Another sprayed goo in his face, and Beckendorf screamed. It was awful, and I realized I'd never imagined a big guy like Beckendorf screaming. Percy made a move to go help, but I pulled him back before he could do anything stupid.

"Charlie!" Silena yelled.

"Don't!" I hissed, "It's already too late!"

"What are you talking about?" Percy demanded. "We have to –"

_Do what?_ I thought in my head as I watched the Myrmekes drag Beckendorf into a tunnel as fast as a bullet.

"No!" Silena pushed me, "You _let_ them take Charlie!" I didn't want to waste any time arguing or explaining, because most likely neither Silena nor Percy would understand until I showed them.

"There's no time to argue," I said. "Come on!" They followed me to the bronze dragon's head, and I started dragging it toward the woods.

"What are you _doing_?" Percy asked incredulously, "Beckendorf –"

"Help me," I grunted, the weight more than I could move, "Quick, before they get back."

"Oh, my gods!" Silena said, "You're more worried about this hunk of metal than Charlie?" Actually, I was worried that we were going to rush in there like blind fools and get ourselves all killed, but I didn't tell Silena that.

"Listen, Silena! Those are Myrmekes. They're like fire ants, only a hundred times worse. They bite poison. They spray acid. They communicate with all the other ants and swarm anything that threatens them. If we'd rushed in there to help Beckendorf, we would have been dragged inside, too. We're going to need help – _a lot _of help – to get him back. Now, grab some wires and _pull_!"

Percy either understood or just decided to do something with his hands, but he knelt down and helped me move the dragon's head. Silena pitched in, too. Once we were fifty yards from the clearing I instructed them to stop. All of us were tired and we collapsed, wheezing and sweating. Silena began to cry.

"He's probably dead already," she sobbed.

I hated to be the pessimist, but I told her anyway, "No. They won't kill him right away. We've got about half an hour."

"How do you know that?" Percy asked, once again _questioning_ me when he should know better. I'm the one who's gotten him out of trouble half the time. Instead, I explained the obvious.

"I've read about Myrmekes. They paralyze their prey so they can soften them up before – "

Silena sobbed. "We have to save him!" So I admit that I had been about to explain some facts no one probably needed to know, and that hadn't made anything better, but I couldn't help myself. I liked being the know-it-all. And, being the daughter of Athena, I guess I was required to.

"Silena," I assured her, "We're _going _to save him, but I need you to get a grip."

"Call the other campers," Percy suggested, "or Chiron. Chiron will know what to do." I thought it sounded like a good idea, but I had to take into account how far apart everybody was from each other.

"By the time we got everyone back here, it would be too late. Besides, the entire camp wouldn't be strong enough to invade the Ant Hill," I told him.

"Then what?" Percy wondered.

I pointed to the dragon's head.

"You're going to scare the ants with a big metal puppet?" he asked, once again, slow to catch on.

"It's an automaton," I said patiently, wanting to slap him, strangle him, smack him on the head, or do _something _to get him to realize what I was getting at.

"So what?" he continued. "It's just a head. It's broken." Well thank you, Captain Obvious.

"Percy, this isn't just _any_ automaton," I informed. "It's the bronze dragon. Haven't you heard the stories?" Silena caught on.

"You mean the old guardian? But that's just a legend!"

"Whoa," Percy said, in awe, and I thought he was finally catching on… "What old guardian?" Ugh, he really did have seaweed in his brain.

"Percy," I inhaled, "In the days before Thalia's tree – back before the camp had magical boundaries to keep out monsters – the counselors tried all sorts of different ways to protect themselves. The most famous was the bronze dragon. The Hephaestus cabin made it with the blessing of their father. Supposedly it was so fierce and powerful that it kept the camp safe for over a decade. And then…about fifteen years ago, it disappeared into the woods."

"And you think this is its head?"

"It has to be! The Myrmekes probably dug it up while they were looking for precious metal. The body can't be far away."

"But they chewed it apart. It's useless."

"Not necessarily," I narrowed my eyes. I would figure out something, for the sake of Silena and Beckendorf. "We could reassemble it. If we could activate it –"

"It could help us rescue Charlie!" Silena said.

"Hold up," Percy said, as if he were processing all of the information, "That's a lot of ifs. _If _we find it, _if_ we can reactivate it in time, _if _it will help us. You said this thing disappeared fifteen years ago?" I nodded.

"You want to reassemble a haywire metal dragon?"

"We have to try!" I said, feeling like we'd spent way too much time talking and too little time planning. "It's Beckendorf's only hope. Besides, this could be a sign from Hephaestus. The dragon should want to help one of his kids."

"All right," Percy said, relenting, "Let's go find a headless dragon."

It seemed like forever before we found it. We followed the ants' trail, when we came to a huge crater. A large metal mound could be seen through the dirt, and wires protruded from an end.

"Hephaestus," Silena said. "The god must've unearthed this. Hephaestus _wanted_ us to find the dragon. He wanted Charlie to…" She choked up.

We rolled the head down the hill next to the neck and began attempting to reconnect the wires. It would have helped if we had someone from the Hephaestus cabin with us, but there were only Percy, Silena, and me. I fiddled with the wires, but to me they made no sense. I didn't understand where they connected or what they were supposed to look like. I might as well have been holding a bunch of tangled strings.

"Isn't your mom the goddess of inventors?" Percy asked. Another moment where I wanted to smack him.

"I'm good with _ideas._ Not mechanics." And then Percy blurted out something that I half wished he hadn't, but was secretly glad he did.

"If I was going to pick one person in the world to reattach my head," he said, "I'd pick you." So it wasn't a declaration of love or anything, but it was sweet and cute in a Percy style way. Not that I said Percy was cute.

"Awww…" Silena sniffled and wiped her eyes. "Percy, that is _so _sweet!" Her statement made everything seem more complicated. I felt my face growing hot.

"Shut up, Silena," I said, not trying to sound mean, "Hand me your dagger. Here goes nothing." It took forever to put the wires back together, but when I finally stood up and finished, I felt that I'd done a pretty good job.

"All right," I announced, "It's done, I think…"

"You _think?_" Silena asked. Obviously I had her vote of confidence. Percy fidgeted.

"How do you, uh, start it? Is there an ignition switch or something?"

I indicated the ruby eyes. "Those turn clockwise. I'm guessing we rotate them." It was the only plausible way I could think of activating the dragon. If I was wrong, then we were dead.

"If somebody twisted my eyeballs, I'd wake up," Percy agreed. "What if it goes crazy on us?" That was something I didn't want to think about, but I answered.

"Then…we're dead." The three of us twisted the dragon's ruby eyes. Instantly, they started glowing. I backed up quickly; afraid it would lunge, and in the process fell over Percy and to the ground. The dragon's rusty mouth yawned open. It emitted steam from its nose and tried to ease itself up, but couldn't move from out of the dirt. When it noticed, it strained and the crater erupted.

What emerged from the crater was awe-inspiring. It was huge, and beautiful in a fearsome way. Its body was encrusted with jewels and its bronze scales were alternated with gold.

"Well…" Percy said in a small voice, "It still works." The dragon's head swiveled towards us, as if sensing our presence for the first time. Its snout stopped about two inches from Percy's face and I saw his hand slip towards his sword.

"Dragon, stop!" yelled Silena, finally finding her voice, "We've woken you to defend the camp. You remember? That is your job!" she commanded. She added, "Charles Beckendorf, son of Hephaestus, is in trouble. The Myrmekes have taken him. He needs your help."

The dragon looked around, trying to pinpoint the enemy.

"We have to show it," I realized. "Come on, dragon! This way to the son of Hephaestus! Follow us!" I didn't know what else to do, so I drew my sword as if leading a charge. We ran out of the pit and towards the Ant Hill, a potentially dangerous bronze dragon lumbering behind us.

The dragon charged ahead when we reached the clearing, smushing a couple of ants along the way. Eventually, the ants swarmed the dragon, but the dragon fought back, flaming them and moving forward.

"Inside, now!" I told them, seeing our chance, "While they're focused on the dragon!" It was a classic strategy – attack while your enemy is spread thin and distracted. The ants were focused on the dragon, probably because he was the bigger threat. We entered the closest tunnel. A horrible stench assaulted my nostrils. It was terrible, and I felt like throwing up. It was the smell of rotten meat and who knew what else.

The pits themselves weren't in much better shape. There were empty ant shells littering the floor and pools of nasty goo. Percy's bronze sword illuminated the caverns slightly, so at least we could avoid stepping into acid puddles.

"Look!" I exclaimed, pointing to the thousands of trinkets in one room. There were so many magic items and golden things. "That's just one room. There are probably hundreds of nurseries down here, decorated with treasure."

"It's not important," Silena insisted. "We have to find Charlie!" I was surprised that she, a child of Aphrodite, was uninterested in all the jewelry. We plodded on through the network of tunnels, keeping our eyes peeled.

We spotted Beckendorf at the bottom of a mountain of garbage. Silena raced towards him and tried to support him.

"Thank the gods," Beckendorf groaned. "My – my legs are paralyzed!"

"It'll wear off," I said. "We have to get you out of here. Percy, take his other side." Percy did as I asked and he and Silena lifted Beckendorf up. There were distant sounds of clanging and creaking. Beckendorf noticed.

"The dragon! You didn't – reactivate it?"

"Afraid so," Percy said, "Seemed like the only way."

"But you can't just turn on an automaton! You have to calibrate the motor, run a diagnostic…There's no telling what it'll do!" Just when we thought we'd taken care of one problem, it seemed like we had another. The tunnel exploded and we came face to face with the dragon, thrashing like a crazed worm, except much deadlier (and heavier).

"Come on!" Percy yelled. We stumbled out of the hill and back into sunlight, dragging Beckendorf. The ants were all over the dragon, and a few turned their attention towards us. I whipped out my knife and stabbed one between the feelers. It disintegrated.

"I think I can walk now," Beckendorf said feebly. He fell on his face as Silena and Percy let go of him.

"Charlie!" Silena scooped him up and pulled him through while Percy and I paved the way, hacking and slashing at the ants. Back at the clearing, the dragon stumbled and sank to the ground. Silena, ever the compassionate one, spoke up. "We can't let it die!"

"It's too dangerous," Beckendorf said. "Its wiring…"

"Charlie," Silena pleaded, "it saved your life! Please, for me?" Well, Beckendorf probably did just that, for Silena, but he straightened and told us to prepare to run.

"DRAGON!" he bellowed, "Emergency defense, beta ACTIVATE!" The ants on its armor exploded or erupted in flames as the dragon sent out arcs of electricity, zapping and electrocuting the ants. It shook itself, tossing the charred remains of the Myrmekes. It turned its gaze towards us.

"Now," Beckendorf said, "We run."

Playing tag with a dragon is not my idea of fun. When it's a huge, bronze, terrifying dragon, things don't get any better. At least Beckendorf was with us now, so we weren't completely out of options.

"You guys, run around to the base of the cliff. Distract the dragon," Beckendorf said.

"What are you going to do?" Silena said, sounding worried.

"You'll see. Go!" Beckendorf assured her. The dragon was almost upon us.

"Hey lizard-lips! Your breath smells like gasoline!" Percy taunted. Smoke billowed out of the dragon's nostrils.

"Come on!" I urged Percy, grabbing his hand and dragging him after me. Silena, Percy, and I made it to the back side of the cliff and drew our swords, readying ourselves for a final stand. I considered giving Percy a goodbye kiss on the cheek, in case we didn't survive, but cleared my thoughts. I'd been through worse than a haywire metal dragon. We'd make it. A stream of fire hit the ground. All of us jumped out of the way, and then Percy did something both brave and stupid.

He charged.

"YAAAAH!" he cried. He brought down his sword and sliced off one of the dragon's talons. The dragon lowered its head and bared sharp, pointed teeth.

"Percy!" I warned, making sure he noticed the teeth. It wasn't that he was blind so much as caught up in the action. Those were the times when he tended not to notice some of the bigger, more important things, like the fact that his head was pretty close to the dragon's mouth and, in the next second, would most likely be in it.

"Percy!" I repeated. Beckendorf launched himself onto the dragon's neck and disconnected a wire. The dragon stopped trying to toss Beckendorf off and froze, no longer dangerous.

"Charlie!" Silena said, embracing him and kissing him on the cheek, "You did it!" I walked next to Percy and gave him a gentle squeeze on the shoulder.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain, you okay?" He seemed a little dazed.

"Fine…I guess." I smiled gently at him.

"You did great." There were a few more exchanges of conversation as we decided what to do with the dragon. I stared up at it, thinking it would be a good asset to have against the Titan army, and Kronos…_Luke._ I couldn't reconcile myself with the fact that Luke was now Kronos. The boy I'd known was…just…gone. Like that, he'd given himself up. I couldn't figure out why, and I hated it. It could be worse. It could've been – I stopped myself.

"Charlie, that was the bravest thing I ever saw – you jumping on that dragon," Silena marveled. Beckendorf swallowed.

"Um…yeah. So…will you go to the fireworks with me?" Silena's face lit up and she laughed.

"Of course, you big dummy! I thought you'd never ask!" I glanced at Percy, but he didn't look at me.

On the way back, Percy's sneaker had nearly collapsed from the acid. He leaned against me for support and our foursome made our way through the woods. Beckendorf and Silena, happy couple that they were, walked ahead holding hands. Stupid Percy wouldn't ask _me _to the fireworks, never in a million years. I internally sighed.

"You know," I said, "it wasn't the bravest thing _I've_ ever seen."

"Um…what do you mean?" Percy asked.

I held his wrist as we went over a creek. "You stood up to the dragon so Beckendorf would have his chance to jump – now _that _was brave."

"Or pretty stupid," Percy said, cutting himself down.

"Percy, you're a brave guy," I said. "Just take the compliment. I swear, is it so hard?" We locked eyes. My face was two inches apart from his, and I wished he'd do something, say something. His brilliant sea-green eyes searched mine, and I felt like touching his adorably mussed black hair. Okay, backtrack. I never said any of those things.

"So…" he said, sounding a little lost, "I guess Silena and Charlie are going to the fireworks together." My heart fell. It wasn't what I wanted to hear.

"I guess so," I agreed.

"Yeah," he said, and my heart jumped in my chest, "Um, about that –

At that moment, my siblings chose to spoil the moment and leapt out of the bushes, their swords drawn.

"Annabeth!" they congratulated, "Good job! Let's get these two in jail." Percy stared.

"The game's not over?" he said.

"Dude, come on," Beckendorf protested. "There was a dragon, and the whole Ant Hill was attacking us." I pulled away from Percy. Since he hadn't asked me yet, this was payback.

"You want us to take them from here?" one of my brothers asked. I took out my knife.

"Nah, Silena and I can get this. Come on, prisoners. Move it." Percy's mouth gaped open.

"You _planned_ this?"

"Percy, seriously, how could I have planned it? The dragon, the ants – you think I could've figured all that out ahead of time?"

"You – you little – Percy began, but he couldn't come up with anything. Beckendorf and Percy objected the whole time as we led them to jail, but Silena and I wouldn't hear it. As I was heading back to the front line, I took a deep breath. If I didn't do it now I'd definitely get scared and back out. Without any other thoughts, I turned back and winked at Percy. It was now or never.

"See you at the fireworks?" I hoped it didn't sound too hopeful, but I darted away before he could see my pink cheeks.

And then we won the game.


End file.
